Ballistic-protection performance of carbon-nanotube-doped poly-vinyl-ester-epoxy matrix composite armor reinforced with E-glass fiber mats

In the present work, a material model development approach and transient non-linear dynamics simulations of the projectile/armor interactions are employed to explore the role of multi-walled carbon-nanotube (MWCNT) reinforcements in improving the ballistic-protection performance of poly-vinyl-ester-epoxy matrix (PVEE)/E-glass fiber matrix reinforced laminate armor. Two different architectures of the composite-laminate armor are considered: (a) a hybrid armor consisting of a 100 μm-thick high MWCNT-content PVEE-matrix MWCNT-reinforced lamina sandwiched between two PVEE-matrix/E-glass mat reinforced laminas and (b) a monolithic E-glass mat reinforced composite laminate with a low MWCNT-content MWCNT-doped PVEE-matrix. The projectile/armor interaction simulation results show that both armor architectures yield a minimal (∼6%) increase in the ballistic-protection as measured by the armor V50, a velocity at which the probability of armor penetration by a given fragment is 50%. The results obtained are rationalized using a simple analysis of the effect of MWCNTs on the in-plane and the through-the-thickness properties of the armor.